This tournament is open to any player of rank Sargeant First Class or above at the start of the tournament. If you are a non-premium player, you must keep one tournament game slot open or you will be replaced with a reserve player.

Lindbergh. Yaeger. Earhart. Zeppelin. What do they all have in common? Each tried – with some success and some failure – to fly higher, longer, faster, further, than those who had come before. Before his death in 1519, Leonardo Da Vinci inspired the world, not just with art, but with his inventions, especially those inventions that encouraged man to reach the skies. In 1783, on October 15, Frenchman Jean Pilatre de Rozier was the first man to use a captive balloon to defy gravity and escape from the ground.

Not long after, on November 21 the same year, de Rozier teamed with Marquis d’ Arlans to free-fly with a balloon, beginning a rush to the skies. In 1891, Germany’s Otto Lilienthal made the first successful multiple gliding fights, inspiring Wilbur and Orville Wright, who, in 1903, made the first heavier-than-air machine flight.

The race to go higher, faster, and farther was truly on!

In 1957, Major General Archie J. Old, Jr., USAF, led a team of 3 Boeing B-52 bombers powered with eight 10,000 pound thrust Pratt & Whitney Aircraft J57 engines, around the world, for the first nonstop jet plane flight.

On April 12, 1961, cosmonaut Uri Gagarin travelled around the world in less than 2 hours via Russian space program’s Vostok 1.

America’s X-15 set a speed record of Mach 6.7 (6.7 times the speed of sound) on October 3, 1967, that program contributing to the development of America’s piloted spaceflight programs including the Space Shuttle program that survives today.

Singly and in teams, in peace and in war, men and women from all over the world have worked to circumnavigate the globe. From 1914’s James Gordon Bennett Trophy for the fastest two laps, to the 1931 Bendix Trophy for a trans-continental flight, competition to be the first to go the fastest and farthest has been fierce.

Now you can strive to be one of four Conquernauts! The journey starts with de Rozier’s single-flight balloon, to Wilbur and Orville’s doubles attempt, moves on to Archie Old’s triple-jet flight, and ends with two four-man teams reaching for the moon! Will you be one of those with the right stuff? Or will you crash and burn along the way?

First Round: de Rozier’s Balloon Races (16 Singles)

The games will begin when we have 16 players ready to race against each other across 3 continents: Europe, Africa, and Asia. Each player will play a different opponent in one game on each of those maps. This is a double-elimination but the eliminations take place on three maps; lose your (one) game on any 2 of the maps and you may be out of skies forever.

Second Round: Wright Brothers (6 Doubles Teams)

Eight Balloon Race winners are guaranteed a slot for doubles. Four “wildcard slots” will be selected at random from those eliminated in the prior races, to compete in this round. It’s another 3-continent double-elimination - 2 teams on each map, rotating opponents on each subsequent map: Australia, North America, and South America. Participants from round 1 will be given first option as “reserves” – by random draw.

Third Round: Archie Olds’ Bombers (4 Triples Teams)

Everyone’s a winner! The same twelve players will go on to Triples. Wright Brothers’ winners will get to select their third adventurer from the opponents who failed to reach the islands. Fights will be settled by random draw and the remaining players will form the forth team to island-hop across the globe in this final 3-map double-elimination – 2 teams on each map, again rotating opponents. Maps: Treasures of Galapagos, Caribbean Islands, and British Isles. Participants from round 1 will be given first option as “reserves” – by random draw.

Final Round: Conquernauts (2 Quads Teams)

The two winning teams will each rescue one opponent who was otherwise stranded on one of those islands to round out their crew for the final races to the stars. Again, “fights” will be settled by random draw. These final flights will take place on one map: World 2.1. The team who wins best two out of three on World 2.1 will be named the Conquernauts and will each be awarded with 6 months' Premium Membership to go with their title, “Conquernauts”. Participants from rounds 3 (primary) and 1 (secondary) will be given first option as “reserves” – by random draw.

This tournament is seeking 16 players and 4 reserves.

Settings on all maps will be Sequential, with Fog, No Spoils, Chained, Casual (24 hours) unless otherwise agreed by all players in a specific game.

Team Format Clarification

Initial games will be singles where each person plays at least two maps, facing his/her first opponent on one map, a new opponent on a 2nd map, and, if 1 win/1 loss, then a third opponent on a third map. Thus, for round one, the maximum any player will play is 3 games, each on its own map.

For round 2, each DubTeam1 v. DubOpponent1 on Map4. DubTeam1 v. DubOpponent2 on Map5. DubTeam1 v. DubOpponent3 on Map6. Thus, you will only be playing with unknown team on the first map of the round; you will stick with that DubTeam to the end of this round - 2 to 3 games, each on its own map until best 2 out of 3 is achieved.

For Round 3, each DubTeam picks a 3rd to make a Trips Team. TripsTeam1 v. TripsOpponent1 on Map7. TripsTeam1 v. TripsOpponent2 on Map8. TripsTeam1 v. TripsOpponent3 on Map9. Thus, you will only be playing with unknown team on the first map of the round; you will stick with that TripsTeam to the end of this round - 2 to 3 games, each on its own map until best 2 out of 3 is achieved.

For the Final Round, each TripTeam picks a 4th to make Quads. QuadsTeam1 v. QuadsTeam2 on Map 10 (World2.1) and best 2 out of 3 are our Conquernauts.

Very very cool, really like the tournament, well done and good luck with it! Sorry, won't be joining, need to cut down on my games but I'm sure you won't have no problems filling this great tournament.

"Thou shalt accept thy dice rolls as the will of the Gods" (Church of Gaming)"amazzony is a beast" (Woodruff)

Round 1 Match 1 takes place in Europe (not Europa). Europe is where the first balloon flights occurred. Players were pre-randomized by number, simply waiting for entrant names to fill in. Games will begin as follows:

Sackett58Sun Tzup

MrBenndustin800

tdansXx TrustME xX

hiitsmestevie1 Lindax

nemrehs1negoeien

littlebrother2k7David Hoekstra

xerroagile76

Darin44Humrlmo

Each of you received a pm offering you and your opponent the chance to pick alternative settings (but not speed) for this first match. Any optional settings will NOT be automatic for the second match (but again, the new opponents will get the option to agree on alternative settings).

If no alternative agreement is reached, settings will be:

SeqNo SpoilsChainedFoggy

Reminder, all games will be 24-hours turns, speed setting is not an option - we have freemies playing.

Once settings are finalized, either nemrehs1 or I will pm you with your tournament match game number and pw.

Last edited by stahrgazer on Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:12 am, edited 5 times in total.

Everyone below this post is definitely "in" with only 2 exceptions: Rokov, Mr_Adams you'll need to increase your rank to SFC (Sergeant First Class) before the tourney begins; otherwise I'll add you as reserves.

As to that min rank thing: I went with experts' advice on it, though they wanted me to raise the min rank even higher. I chose SFC as closest to Master Sergeant, a "Non Commissioned Officer".

I reserved 4 slots, but forgot to mark that on my table. 3 to players I flock with (Black Sheep Squadron clan, you know) and one to a friend who was helping me with prizes. The rest were to be first come, first serve.

Darin44 made the 3rd of my clan, filling the spot I accidentally put paul into.